A tricky little Watergate quiz

June 17, 2002|By Don Fulsom. Special to the Tribune. Don Fulsom covered the Nixon White House for United Press International. He's written about Nixon and Watergate for The Washington Post, Esquire, Los Angeles and Regardie's.

Watergate, the great American political scandal that started with a bungled burglary 30 years ago today, finally forced Richard ("I'm not a quitter") Nixon to quit the presidency two summers later. What more fitting time to test your knowledge of Watergate history -- from bewildering beginning to stunning climax?

1. In the dark early hours of June 17, 1972, when James McCord reported to the Watergate break-in command post that he and the other four burglars might have been detected, he was ordered to:

That's according to Hunt, who observed in a 1992 interview with CBS: "So they went--filed off into history."

McCord suspected the operation was close to being discovered when he spotted the removal of strips of adhesive the burglars had placed across stairwell door locks. The strips had been removed by night watchman Frank Wills, who then called police.

Watergate tapes released in recent years show that only days after the break-in, the president directed his aides to vandalize GOP headquarters -- and pin the blame on Democrats. The plan was never carried out.

2. Hunt told the burglars the major purpose of their mission was to:

a. Steal items that could be planted at GOP headquarters -- should Nixon ever decide to vandalize it.

b. Determine how much Democratic National Committee head Larry O'Brien was being paid as a consultant to Nixon's financial angel, Howard Hughes.

c. Uncover foreign campaign contributions to the Democrats.

d. See if Democrats were going to bug Nixon's plane during the 1972 campaign.

Answer: c. The recruiter of the burglary team told the Senate Watergate Committee that Liddy claimed a government agency (Hunt assumed the FBI) had uncovered the possibility that Cuba -- and perhaps even North Vietnam -- were secretly contributing to the Democrats.

New tapes disclose that Nixon was eager to find out about the O'Brien-Hughes link as early as Jan. 14, 1971 -- when he told an aide, "It would seem the time is approaching when Larry O'Brien is held accountable for his retainer with Hughes."

The president was convinced that the Democrats had bugged his 1968 campaign plane. A discarded 1972 Nixon idea called for a specially equipped "chase plane" to follow the Democratic candidate's aircraft and electronically intercept all phone conversations.

Whatever the overall purpose of the June 17 operation, the burglars' top task was to replace an inoperative bug placed on O'Brien's phone during an earlier break-in.

3. When the burglars were caught, McCord asked their captors whether:

a. They'd consider a bribe.

b. They were cops.

c. The taped doors had given the burglars away.

d. They realized he was chief of security for the Committee to Re-elect the President.

Answer: b. The officers, members of a tactical unit, drove a beat-up unmarked car and dressed casually. One had long, hippie-style hair. They were known as "the Mod Squad." McCord's question: "Are you gentlemen from the Metropolitan police?"

The burglars wore surgical gloves and their pockets were stuffed with $100 bills. Because none of them gave police their real names, McCord's identity and CRP job were not immediately known.

Nixon's very first political race, in 1946, also featured a break-in. Campaign literature was stolen from the office of his opponent, Congressman Jerry Voorhis (D-Calif.). It was then handed out by men hired through theatrical agencies who put on thick accents and announced: "We are Russians and we want you to vote for Mr. Voorhis."

4. At the time of the burglary, Nixon was:

a. Staying at CRP chief John Mitchell's Watergate apartment.

b. Out of the country.

c. Secretly listening to a police scanner.

d. Monitoring radio contact between the burglars and the command post.

Answer: b. At a private island in the Bahamas owned by his old drinking buddy Robert Abplanalp, a wealthy businessman. Nixon had choppered there from his Key Biscayne, Fla., home.

When told about the Watergate arrests in a phone call from his chief of dirty tricks, Charles Colson, Nixon was so angry he threw an ashtray against the wall.

Yet he had his press secretary, Ron Ziegler, inform reporters back in Florida that it was beneath the White House to comment on a "third-rate burglary attempt."

5. In his first public comment on the break-in, Nixon:

a. Said only a few "overzealous" underlings were involved.

b. Flatly denied there was any White House connection.

c. Suggested the Democrats, themselves, might have been responsible.

d. Stated that he was out of the country at the time.

Answer: b. At a June 22 press conference, he asserted that "the White House has had no involvement whatever," and that such an event "has no place in our electoral process or in our governmental process."